


That's How You Tell Me I'm Not Alone

by Ncj700



Series: Kidge Fest 2017 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Katie doesnt do sick, Keith wins all the best husband awards, Kidge - Freeform, KidgeFest2017, Smut, You Have Been Warned, midnight kisses prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 08:31:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13807437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ncj700/pseuds/Ncj700
Summary: Katie blinked, slowly processing the words. “You know?” She blurted finally. “How?”Keith shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out,” he said, looking unsure as to if he was in trouble or not. “I mean, all the crackers and ginger biscuits, no alcohol, the throwing up,” he said, like it was coming off a check-list in his head.“You aren’t tracking my cycle with your galra nose or something are you?” She asked suspiciously. “That’s not fair! Keep it out of my hormones!”





	That's How You Tell Me I'm Not Alone

**Author's Note:**

> **PSA FYI ALL THAT JAZZ:** there's some smut in here, so if that's not your jam, scroll down from ' _hunched over the toilet bowl puking her guts up_ ' to the end of the italicised section :)

_There's a whole 'nother conversation going on in a parallel universe, where nothing breaks and nothing hurts._  

* * *

 

It was whilst she was leaning her forehead on the toilet seat, feeling absolutely miserable for the some-multiple-of-double-digits morning in a row, that Katie decided enough was enough. She really ought to tell Keith that her Nonno’s cheeky comments about great-grandchildren weren’t technically inaccurate.

Sitting there, catching her breath, Katie tried to clear her mind in hopes of settling her stomach. “Please, just let me sleep,” she begged, wrapping a hand around her belly as nausea boiled within it. The reaction, of course, begged the question of when she had actually conceived at all.

The mobs of people still flooding the town and surrounding her home had made getting out to buy a test impossible, but it wasn’t hard to work out. It certainly hadn’t been since coming back to earth. Ha. As if she had the time or privacy to have sex with her husband on her own planet! That would have been a miracle.

Between magazine interviews, TV interviews, meeting with Garrison HQ, Iverson, meetings with a few world leaders, the UN, and all the people stalking them all the time, and reconnecting with their families, Katie was far too stressed to even think about sex.

She hardly got to see the others besides Keith, depending on what any given day brought them (she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen Coran). Frankly, she had been more relaxed fighting an alien dictator millions of miles from home.

Katie highly doubted she’d have been in a state of mind to even get pregnant with Keith’s mixed up DNA if they had been intimate on earth. She was surprised she was _still_ pregnant at all with all the chaos.

Coming off of the Olkarian-Blade developed birth control had been less for any decision to have children, and more that each of the doctors, Ryner included, had highly recommended using something coded properly to their genetics (well, her genetics).

They had stopped some time before returning to Earth, and the last time she and Keith got any privacy to be completely indecent was on the ship, not long after the fight with Zarkon near Jupiter…

However, that hadn’t been much more than a month ago — was it really that? She wasn't sure but it was the only time she could think of that had occurred _after_ coming off the alien contraception.

Her insides certainly felt as unstable as they had from relief back then. Relief that they’d made it out alive and that they might even be able to have a future beyond fighting aliens, that they could go home.

Katie had been all set up to fire up the thrusters and head back to Earth (regardless of whether the castleship actually had thrusters — she still couldn’t get a form grip of some of the Altean words yet).

Kolivan and Coran had made a different suggestion.

A break. It was important, they said after the battle, to recuperate in peace and generally calm themselves after the stress. More especially in Hunk’s case, heal up in a cryo-pod. Allura had guided the ship to a spot between Uranus and Neptune, gently cruising the ‘ _local planets and stars_ ’ as she put it, ever exited to learn about the Earthling’s solar system.

None of the paladins had voiced any displeasure; despite being space students no-one but Shiro had ever seen some of them. There would have been the trip to the Ares 4 site as part of the Garrison student programme, and later the Venus graduation trip, but for obvious reasons, most of them had missed out on it.

So, when the ship stopped in front of one of the planets on the Garrison University Officers ever got a chance to visit came close, Katie was one of the first to head down to lion hangar to make sure she got a good view.

Katie spent a good while listening to her father tell her some tales about the trip to Kerberos with Matt, how they nearly ended up having to make a detour and orbit Uranus and Neptune in an infinity manoeuvre to avoid an asteroid shower.

She didn’t know how long she had sat there, listening to his words in the hangar as the bright blue glow of the largest ice giant, the pulsation of the Dark Spot and glow of the frozen methane clouds. Maybe a few hours. Her father’s soothing words were only temporary though —  they were both tired, and his leg injuries leftover from his imprisonment made him wear out quickly, so she was soon left to herself, watching the planets glow.

Once he was gone, her unease returned. As it was guided towards the Milky Way by its Altean controllers, the castleship, for the very first time since she had boarded it, truly felt alien. Usually there was something to break up the quiet, but today, all the paladins had taken some time to themselves, and for good reason.

A battle had been fought. A battle with Zarkon. A battle so close to their homes that they could see Earth on the castles navigation system within the main screen. That was how close the empire had come to Earth. In all honesty, none of them knew how they had managed to drive Zarkon back, and it was the recovery from their efforts and subsequent downtime before returning that led Katie to where she was now; hunched over the toilet bowl puking her guts up.

 

* * *

 

 

_Voltron’s final attack had been nothing sort of draining, and overwhelming._

_Katie’s hands were still shaking from the combined efforts of utilising Voltron’s ultimate power; it was the closest any of them would ever come to telepathy, and she hated it after the fact. Being able to feel the emotions of the others so clearly wasn’t something they were used to, but thankfully it didn’t sound like it would be permanent._

_Allura promised that it would wear off soon, that the first paladins had also struggled with the aftermath of this ability when it had been used. It didn’t make the sensation any more uncomfortable outside of battle though._

_She shivered, trying not to remember what she had been feeling, trying to block out the echoes crawling over her skin and inside her head. Magic space robots be damned, being able to sense other people like that was just uncomfortable._

_Katie wandered for a while, trying to warm up with exercise, before relenting and simply heading back to the bedroom she now shared with Keith._

_Allura had given them a larger room after their space wedding. Or moved the castle walls around or something. It wasn’t fancy or anything, just more storage to combine their things to one place, a bigger bed, joined bathroom like their old singles and a small room they used for storing computer equipment and Keith’s blade gear._

_Upon stepping inside, Katie flopped onto the bed, pulled a pillow close and tried to block the strange sensations out of her mind. She could still feel her tongue making ghost shapes of Lance’s Spanish prayers, feel the tears streaming from her dry eyes as Hunk’s fear grew, the agitation and excitement of Shiro’s heart palpitating, off-beat and rapid against her own inside her chest. Then she felt the cool, wary caution but single-minded determination and black and white logic that was Keith._

_It was inherently strange being inside her own husband’s head. She thought she had a good understanding of him to begin with, and vice versa, but feeling the things he felt, the background emotions surrounding not just her, but how he viewed himself and their whole team, was both enlightening and terrifying._

_The amount of respect he had for Shiro was something she didn’t know how to put into words. Then there was a mixed bag of respect for his skills with firearms and jealousy on his social skills aimed towards to Lance. Next, a deep appreciation for hunk, his honest, brave and kind persona, and how easy he made it for them all to be themselves._

_Then there was herself; if Katie would ever think to doubt Keith, fear he didn't love her anymore, or had some other worry over the strength of their relationship, she’d think back to this horrifying experience.  The various forms and uses of ‘I love you,’ that he used were by far the least level-appropriate for categorising it. It made her think of something Kolivan had said — that Galra chose their partners the same way they did everything else. All or nothing. He’d been right._

_Vrepit Sa. Victory or Death. Keith hadn’t been raised to believe in those phrases (certainly not by Iverson at least), but he still acted in line with the principles. Nothing he did was halfway, especially not love. The side effect, of course, was how Keith valued himself; she’d seen it before Lotor intervened at the Battle of Naxzela. The part that scared her the most was that Keith didn't even notice._

_Burying her face in the pillow, Katie allowed herself some tears. Of relief, confusion, worry, everything, not just of her own emotions but those of her teammates, her friends. She fell in and out of sleep, uncomfortable and unsure by herself, tossing and turning with her pillow until Keith came back, looking as unsettled as she did, only perhaps slightly worse._

_Nervous and jumpy, and more like he had come into the room not because he had been looking for her, or because he was tired, but because it was somewhere to hide. “Katie?” He croaked, sounding like he’d spent several hours on the training deck (he most likely had) from where he was leaning against the door._

_She had barely sat up and let out a grunt of acknowledgement before he had clambered onto the bed and pulled her close, though for whose benefit she couldn’t say. Katie wondered what was running through his head to be so open, which thoughts he’d picked up from the others, from her. His arms were tight around her back and shoulder as she sat half between and half over his legs._

_For a moment she shied away, the sudden physical closeness and mental closeness still lingering making for a mix a bit too potent. Then, she closed her eyes, leaning against Keith’s shoulder, settling a little more contentedly into his unusually fierce grip._

_She felt secure too, finally. She didn’t need magical robot telepathy to understand Keith, what he needed. She’d always managed that just fine, and right now, she needed the comfort and reassurance of his presence too._

_Keith wasn’t crying, in fact, he seemed to be calming to the point that the strange vibrating hum in his chest — the one she always thought rather fondly sounded like the gentle drone of the period 90s hard drive she’d left back on earth — began. With it, she too began to relax, burying her face in his collarbone, letting the sound drift into her ears and soothe away the intense, terrifying emotions that had been roaming around in her head._

_After the long and stressful night of battle, followed by some fitful sleep, and the lingering effects of their lions, the warmth of their bedroom, even in the chill glow of the ice giant they cruised past, was comfortable, safe, and here, she felt far surer of her own awareness, of herself._

_Before long, they feel into that hazy, comfortable sensation that was an awareness of the others presence, almost enough to bring sleep. It wouldn’t have been unwelcoming, but it wasn’t quite the same. It was a droopy kind of excitement, the knowledge in the back of her mind that if Katie moved her body just so, or reached up and pressed her lips to Keith's ever so gently, then sleep would be something that came much later in the night._

_It took a moment before she shifted, slowly so that the mood didn't disappear, letting one of his legs slip right between her thighs and press against her as he moved too, hands supporting her back and shoulders. It brought them face to face, and his breath to her neck._

_There the slight nervous heaviness to it that seemed a prerequisite to intimacy, and it sprawled like a blanket over her skin. She drew herself closer, noses and cheeks pressing together, reassuring and inviting all at once, until he kissed her._

_It felt like the whole room had shrunk as she let it deepen, basking in the physical contact, the heavy reassurance of Keith’s arms. He was always so careful, and yet the fingers reaching behind her neck, her back felt steady._

_Breath deepening into the press of his lips on hers, she felt the silent and unspoken pass of the line between simple innocent kisses and the slightly more separate ones, where his tongue grazed her own and his hands moved beneath her clothes. The one that made her body start to throb and hum in anticipation, shift her legs a little so she could press herself against him._

_Before long, they were a tangle of kisses and warm bodies on the bedsheets, clothing discarded to the floor. Katie leant her head back into the pillows with sighs and moans on her tongue as Keith’s lips nibbled tiny marks into the hollow of her throat, turning them into a breath, broken staccato, his fingers slowly pressing against her._

_There always came a point when his body — larger and denser than her own — always became heavy. Keith worried about making her uncomfortable, or squashing her, or something equally ridiculous. Katie appreciated his concern, but honestly, she loved it._

_She loved when his concentration was so enthralled in her that she felt his full weight, his hips pressing down on her even still clothed, how his chest crushed onto hers and made it feel like their skin was melting together._

_The cries in her voice turned into smaller desperations when his fingers pushed into her core, affectionate kisses on her cheeks and gasped endearments whispered into her ear. Damn him if he hadn’t turned her into a romantic. The gentle but insistent rolls of his fingers as they reached into her made her ache, made her arch her back, her breasts pressing into his chest as she wound her arms around his neck and impatient fingers into his hair._

_She could feel her heartbeat on her tongue as his kisses got that little bit more demanding, not quite as precise, but just as satisfying. Letting out a rather pathetic protest as his fingers left her, she reached out, pulling him into another kiss as practice and familiarity shifted her lower body into place against his hips._

_Intense feelings had stirred their activities, and intense feelings was a poor description for the phantom emotions still passing back and forth between them. Her toes curled as her husband’s body encompassed her own, back twisting gently and thighs tightening on his hips as he pushed into her core._

_Keith’s breath was almost a distant sound in her ear, repeated murmurs of her name with a catch to his voice that couldn’t be caused by any physical sensation, no matter how good. And the sex was_ definitely _good. They’d had plenty of time to learn each other’s likes and wants and such, but right now it was almost a peripheral sensation._

_Katie could feel the tension in her body coiling in anticipation, the sensitivity of her skin to Keith’s, the alignment of her nose to his scent, the satisfying stretch of herself as her body met Keith’s steady, controlled thrusts. She could feel it all, and knew that soon, she’d reach her first peak of arousal, but at the same time, something else seemed to be the driving force._

_She wasn’t sure what she was feeling anymore, and it was a thrilling kind of confusion, terrifying in that it was exhilarating and unknown. Katie let her head fall back into one of Keith’s hands, breathing in gasps through the physical sensations as her mind was breached, drowned almost by the essence from the battle mired in utter adoration._

_Had it been from anyone else, in any other context, it would have been suffocating, like being cocooned in too many blankets to be comfortable. Instead, it heightened the cries and moans Keith pulled from her body, finding his own reassurance perhaps, that whatever he had felt from her during the battle had been no dream._

_It wasn't words that flooded her head. Nobody thought in words — just vague waves of feelings that supplied meanings and intent. Caring and fearing, anxiety and self-doubt interlaced in a tight mass that would spill itself before her if she asked correctly. It surrounded everything, almost muting her arousal as it reached its peak, and her legs tightened around her husband’s hips, locking him against her as she moaned for him._

_Not moments later he finished, chest heavy and flushed against her own, cradling her head and shoulders in his arms, and as Katie came down from her high, she clutched her arms around his neck feeling the sting of tears in her eyes._

_“Katie?” He asked, his concern light and new in his voice at her reaction. “Babe?” He leaned back a little, perhaps to disentangle their bodies, and she choked back a sob, gritting her teeth against it and clinging tighter, refusing to let go, all of the tension climaxing in her understanding. All those fears she’d felt weren’t just Keith’s._

_“Stay, please,” she begged. “I can’t… If something had gone wrong I’d have lost you.” He voice was quiet now, and the tears free-flowing. “I can’t lose you. I found dad and matt, but I almost lost you for good, and I couldn’t…I can’t lose you Keith,” she sniffled, struggling to put words into reality._

_Keith sat up, pulling her with him, and Katie let that reassuring sensation that came from his arms as the wound a little closer help calm her. He pressed kisses into her crown, hardly moving as she clung on, uncomprehendingly half-terrified from her own fears that he might disappear._

_She knew how unrealistic it was; Keith was her husband. It wasn't an earth ceremony or registration, but they exchanged vows, with equal promises to never leave, or let themselves be taken away. He’d already promised her he’d stay, and she knew he would._

_“I know,” he assured again, as her sniffles subsided and her body relaxed from its tense state. “You won’t.”_

_His tone wasn't lost on her; he’d felt her own fears mixed amongst his hours before, the ones that lingered. He_ knew _._

_“Katie?”_

_She looked at him, arms still curled around his neck and legs splayed around his hips, face feeling puffy and her chest like it had been punched. And yet, it didn't make her feel any less tired or unappreciative of Keith's body, the feel of him still present._

_“Yeah?” She asked, glad to feel a calmer tone in her own voice._

_Keith leaned his head closer, his lips pressing gentle and soft to her own before he smiled, that lopsided way that was so endearing and encouraging, just as it was intended._

_“Love you.”_

_The words, unlike Voltron’s ultimate power that connected paladins beyond comfit and understanding, were not magic. They were much better, honest and unbendable, and a mirror of her own._

_“Keith?”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Love you too.”_

* * *

 

Another lurch of nausea wracked her body, and she heaved, feeling the ache in her stomach from throwing up so much. Looking down into the toilet bowl after her stomach protested again, her eyes bugged out of their sockets when she spat some of the foul taste from her mouth; purple. Her spit was purple.

If the chronic nausea hadn’t been one, then this was a clear sign that a normal reaction to Keith’s goddamn alien sperm was out of the question.

Her stomach somersaulted again, and her abdominals felt like they were screaming at the lurch. Maybe coming off the birth control had been a bad idea after all. When they had spoken to her about having kids, during those exams on Keith, Ryner had been optimistic, but cautious.

Galra didn't generally carry their own children, and had only one singular gender as a rule (though there were some differences in body types and reproductive roles — her mother was already fascinated by the notes Keith had fished out of the ship’s archives for her).

Keith, as it had turned out during her checks, was different. He had the same singular gender as the Galra, but in a male human shape. Children were definitely possible — her husband was living proof that Galra and human genes were compatible — but Ryner had admitted she was unsure about what might occur if they decided to conceive ‘ _naturally_ ’.

Keith’s father obviously hadn’t given birth to him, so the potential complications of pregnancy hadn’t applied. Katie was quickly determining that she was probably in for a lot of discomfort, crying, nausea, and to top it all off, purple spit. She’d rather take on Zarkon again.

“Please, no more jellybaby,” she begged. “I’m not used to this like Hunk is,” she whined pathetically, sniffling at the smell, the way her head was spinning, and the hair clinging to her mouth, (making everything smell even worse).

“Katie? Babe? Is that yo–”

Oh, _Quiznak._ Katie would have looked over her shoulder but her stomach took that moment to churn itself once more, and she tried not to cry when Keith wordlessly pulled her hair out of her face and rubbed circles on her back.

“You look terrible,” he said, voice full of concern, damn him. “How long have you been up? This is the eleventh night in a row.”

“I feel terrible, but thank you for the numerical clarification,” she groaned, flopping uselessly against him. “I’m so sick I can’t even count how many days I’ve been sick.”

“Babe, maybe we should get Coran to check you out in one of the med-pods on the ship,” he said. “This doesn’t seem normal, and I know you’re throwing up during the day too. You’ve lost weight already.”

Curse him and his black-and-white logic. And for being a wonderful, sweetheart of a man who looked out for her well-being and noticed things. And wiped vomit of her face and out of her hair with a flannel. She loved him so much. Her Nonna was right; she’d picked a good one.

“I’m fine, just, can you take me back to bed?” She asked. “I think its settled now.” Well, sort of. She fully expected the nausea to return as soon as she had something other than stomach bile in her belly to be sick with.

Katie wished humans were more like the Alteans, or Galra, neither of who had to bother with growing an infant inside their own bodies. As Keith scooped her into his arms, she clung on deciding to at the very least enjoy one of the advantages to being small.

“I still think you should see a doctor, or the equivalent at any rate,” he said, gently relocating her back under the covers and sliding in beside her. “It would probably be better to take Red or Green and go to Olkarion.”

Katie had been in the process of rearranging her pillows, but the mention of Olkarion had her pause. “ _Huh?_ ” She mumbled, making full use of her genius level vocabulary. “Why in the name of Voltron would we need to go to Olkarion?” She asked, too sleepy and cranky and feeling like crap to think much further.

Keith propped himself up on one arm. “Well they did make our birth control,” he reasoned. “And they know plenty about the Galra. If any species has a change of making sure you're okay, it’s probably them.”

Katie stared at him. “What?” What in the five lions was her husband _talking_ about? “Keith, I’m ill and I want to sleep — if you want me to go to Olkarion, I need a good reason,” she tried again.

“A human doctor won’t be able to help much considering my human DNA only has a surface effect,” Keith said, cupping her cheek. “If you really are pregnant, it’ll be safer. My mother didn't even have to give birth to me — we have no idea if you’ll need extra… vitamins or something.”

Katie blinked, slowly processing the words. “You _know?_ ” She blurted finally. “ _How?_ ”

Keith shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out,” he said, looking unsure as to if he was in trouble or not. “I mean, all the crackers and ginger biscuits, no alcohol, the throwing up,” he said, like it was coming off a check-list in his head.

Normally Katie loved that logical thought process he had, to the point where it was even sexy sometimes, but right now she felt like she had fallen out of the bed.

Her mother had told her stories about how her own father had been clueless. Twice. It was a social cliché she’d spent time pondering over, wondering how to let Keith know. Some cryptic message he’d have to figure out. Katie had even considered asking Kolivan about the Galra protocol for revealing such a development between spouses.

It wasn’t that she encouraged stereotypes, but she’d been having fun coming up with ideas between the chronic nausea and need for sleep. That, and besides what Keith had said, he had no way of knowing of-

“You aren’t tracking my cycle with your Galra nose or something, are you?” She asked suspiciously. “That’s not fair! Keep it out of my hormones!” Sometimes Katie hated that her husband was half alien, and had a nose stronger than a dog’s. Most of the time it was useful, tight reflexes, flexible, high energy levels. Usually, she could find ways to make full use of those traits. But sometimes it caught her off guard.

When they had actually got around to checking in on Keith’s biology on Olkarion, they’d discovered his sensitive nose. Not to mention that he had hemerythrin instead of haemoglobin (which why he never really bruised), and had lower oxygen requirements, amongst other things. Kolivan and Lotor had to give them a crash course in Galra Biology to understand it all.

“What? No, I wouldn’t even know how to start,” Keith snorted. He paused. “I can smell something though,” he admitted. “It’s… I don’t know, but about a week after the fight, before the day before we landed here, you started to smell different. Nice, in a good way,” he stressed. “It makes me want to hug you a lot,” he said. “It took a while to notice though, it wasn't until after I dated everything back to when we last had sex that I realised _that_ was what it meant.”

“Why didn't you say something sooner?” She asked, flopping onto her pillows, letting him slide an arm behind her neck for additional support — the body heat was certainly relaxing.

“I wasn't sure until now,” he said quietly. “I know I could be worrying for nothing, but if it gets worse, will you think about it?” He asked, and her heart started to bleed at the obvious worry in his voice.

“If it gets worse, you can drag me up to Lotor’s mother, and tell her have a freaking party,” she promised.

 

* * *

_Let me be lighter — I'm tired of being a fighter. I think a minute's enough, just beam me up._

* * *

 

 

As such idle comments were prone to be, her words were like a future prediction; the nausea invariably got worse. Very much worse, and it didn't even take a week to get bad. More like a couple of days.

It was worse than anything she’d ever felt in her life. Katie felt even worse than she had when she caught space flu (as Lance had dubbed it), or when they all had that soup on a gas planet and had literally nearly poisoned themselves.

The symptoms of her pregnancy still weren’t noticeable (except to her stereotype-defying space-husband) but at the moment she couldn’t even keep water down for much more than an hour at best. Keith was trying his hardest to help, but when sleep only came due to complete and utter exhaustion yet again the previous night, he’d pleaded with her to let him talk to Allura.

As much as she dreaded explaining the necessary story to her family, she knew he had a point about contacting Olkarion. Her own feelings on the matter were purely physical.

Katie wanted desperately to sleep again, to not have her mouth taste like vomit thanks to the violent bouts of nausea, to not feel muscle ache in her stomach whenever she tried to do anything but curl up. To eat something besides the nutrition pills from the castleship Keith had taken to diluting in her water, just to make sure she was getting some sort of vitamin sustenance.

' _Go call Haggar,_ ’ she’d mumbled pathetically calmly trying to make a joke. The way she felt, druid witchcraft could be considered a suitable alternative.

Keith had left earlier that morning, and for a while her stomach had settled, but invariably she was getting thirsty. Which also meant she no longer had reason to avoid her mother and grandparents. So, with great reluctance and wariness, she pulled herself out of bed and slowly made her way to the stairs.

Looking down the stairs made her feel like she actually needed her brother’s old glasses. The spiral staircase seemed to go on forever and though she could see the bottom landing, it was too blurry. She could hardly make out the hand rail.

Thankfully, she had an ally. Matt had been poking his head in to keep an eye on her all day - Katie smelled her husband looking out for her wellbeing again — and his general shape appeared at the bottom. He must have heard her moving around.

“Whoa, you look like death Pidge,” he noted, hurrying up to meet her at the top. “I’m really not joking… you need something? Antibiotics? An IV? General medical intervention?” He joked, though his tone indicated serious concern despite the attempt at cheer.

“I need help,” she mumbled grappling at the railing of the staircase for support. “I feel dizzy, I can’t sleep, everything is so loud,” she groaned, making a face. “Your aftershave stinks,” she informed him blearily.

Matt held out an arm, helping her through the kitchen and to the back room. “Hey, it's okay, just tell me what you need,” he smiled reassuringly. “Keith told me this morning. He didn't want someone not knowing while he was out. I guess congratulations are in order?”

Katie blinked, then whined, flopping against her big brother. Thank the stars for her paranoid space husband. “Carry me down?” She asked hopefully. “I can’t see straight…”

It took some wrangling, but they managed, and Katie continued to cling onto her brother as they made their way through the hallway, even though she insisted on getting back on her feet for the walk through to the sun room where their mother and grandparents were.

Given the sudden and unusual circumstances, her mother had been given several weeks off of work; Colleen sat in the sun lounge, chattering away to her parents in Italian that made Katie’s head hurt. She made Matt pause when she realised they were talking about Keith.

‘ _... He's very polite, Sam can’t get him to call him anything besides Commander or Sir,_ ’ Colleen explained, sighing a little. ‘ _I can’t get him to call me anything but Ma’am either._ ’

' _He was very worried this morning, about Katie. I had to force him out of the door when the Garrison men arrived!_ ’ Her Nonna added.

‘ _You would be complaining if he wasn't,_ ’ Vincenzo snorted. Then his eyes caught her as she and Matt stepped for the door. The action caught the notice of the two women, and Nonna looked absolutely horrified. Whether it was at her granddaughter’s clear illness or potentially being caught gossiping about Keith, Katie was too woozy to figure out. 

“Ah, little one, you should be in bed, you need to rest!” She scolded, helping her to sit down next to Nonno as Matt leaned against the doorframe.

“You want some water?” He asked.

Katie shook her head wearily. “Not right now, I need to talk about something’” she said, catching several pairs of eyes. “Keith and I need to leave for a few days, maybe a week or so,” she sighed, waiting for the explosions.

Her mother’s face turned sheet white. “What? You can’t possibly mean back to space? Katie, sweetheart, you've only just come back!” She pleaded. “Surely the Altean girl can manage without you for a few more weeks?” Her mother sounded like her heart was about to break again, and guilt flooded Katie for having to even broach the subject.

“Mamma, it’s just a few days I promise; this isn’t anything to do with Voltron, though we will be taking one of the lions, if not the ship” Katie promised.

“You are in no state to go anywhere _Stellina_ ,” Nonna scolded, wrapping a nice fluffy blanket off the sofa around her shoulders. “Stay here, rest, Nonno will make his minestrone for you, won’t you?” she said, looking to her husband.

“ _Sì, sì_ ,” he beamed. “ _You are feverish, it helps, no? You stay here. Get better. Listen to Nonna,_ _sì Stellina?_ ”

Katie cradled her head — she could hardly make out the Italian Nonna was speaking, let alone Nonno’s right now. Only half of it was actually coming through; absently, she missed her helmet and its translator functions.

“Mamma, Nonna, Nonno,” Matt interrupted, leaning against the doorframe. “That’s why she has to go,” he grinned, before catching her eye and winking. His interruption caught their elders off guard, their gazes turning and blinking owlishly at her.

“What? What do you mean Matthew?” Her mother asked him, frowning before flicking her eyes back to her daughter. “Katie?”

Katie took a breath, silently thanking her brother. “I need a doctor, Mamma,” she said. “I’m pregnant.”

There was a pause and then she was engulfed in hugs and family kisses, her Nonna’s knowing smile, Nonno declaring that he would drink her share of grappa for her. Everyone was much happier with that revelation.

Well, until the need to throw up again had Matt running for a bucket from the kitchen. After that, the rest of the explanation went much more smoothly. Her family all knew about Keith’s intergalactic ancestry. Her Nonno had even taken to asking him rapid-fire question in Italian about his mother, and once he’d realised that there was a language to be spoken, started asking Keith for lessons.

After a week, they were now conversing in baby-talk Galran alongside her grandfather’s rather pathetic English and Keith’s mangled Italian. She’d never been so proud of something that sounded so absolutely ridiculous.

It meant however, that when she reminded them that Keith was a lot less human than he looked, her grandparents and mother at the very least understood why they wanted to go to the other side of the universe for what was essentially a prenatal check-up.

It helped when the nausea flared up again, and the water she had just swallowed back turned in her belly back up her throat and into the bucket.

“I know you said Keith was a little more than human, but you are certain you have to go this planet… Olkarion?” her mother asked, handing her a glass of water again once she was done; At this point, it was just for the hope of actually retain some amount of fluid, but Katie took it gratefully all the same. “Doesn’t the ship have some sort of medical bay?

“Olkarion,” Matt said. “Every nerd’s dream come true,” he sighed. “You’d love it there Mamma.”

“Keith is worried,” Katie insisted. “Really worried. And the med-pods on the ship can heal but there’s a limit to what they can do, else we would.”

She really hated the whole situation. She was cranky, sore to the point throwing up made her stomach hurt now, hungry, thirsty, and yet couldn’t abide the thought of either food nor water. She couldn’t see straight, could barely converse, and was sick of crying all over Keith in the middle of the night because all of the worry.

She hated seen the anxious, almost devastated expression on her mother’s face, as if she was scared she and Keith might not come back, and really who could blame her? The last time any of her family went anywhere near a spaceship, they disappeared for five and six years, one member after the others. Katie would have been surprised if she hadn’t had any reservations.

“I hate agreeing Mamma, I've seen enough stars to last a lifetime, but Katie’s right — did you see that molecular model me and dad brought back from the castleship?” He asked.

“Of course, but what does that have to do with this?” Colleen blinked.

“That’s Keith’s DNA structure,” he said. “Dad and I took a month to figure it out. You're a biologist Mamma - have you ever seen something like that before? I mean, it’s kinda fascinating, but my point is, it’s way too complex for earth’s current science levels. Katie needs a Space Doctor, one that knows a lot more about alien biology.”

“ _I think they are right sweetheart,_ ” their grandfather said to his daughter. “ _And I don't think Katie would tell you this if she had another choice, no?_ ” Katie would have smothered her grandfather in kisses for his understanding, had she not been disposing of her violet-coloured mouth mucus into the bucket.

“Of course she wouldn’t Papa,” Colleen sighed, offering Katie a smile. “I realise that, I just… You’ve told me so many stories, and I can’t help fearing for the worst if you go back,” she said, taking her hand. “But if you're sure this the best, that it will help you, then I will not stop you. I would have one request though,” she said.

Katie let out a breath that she hadn't noticed she had been holding, before slipping away from the nice warm blanket her Nonno had wrapped her in to reach for her mother. Her mother who she’d probably missed more than anyone since she first left earth, and who she needed more help from now than she did anyone else.

Pushing aside the horrendous nausea and its effects, she was pregnant. She, Katie Hawkins, was pregnant, and if that wasn't the most terrifying thought in the universe, she had no idea what was.

Katie knew how to fight evil aliens hell bent on taking over the universe. She knew how to clone electronic signatures, befriend rust-eating space tribbles, override the transmission sequence on the historical International Space Station to broadcast planet-warning messages. She knew how to fly multiple space craft, how to build inter dimensional signal beacons and cloaking devices, and how to upload viruses to alien motherships.

But be a mother?

She had no clue how to do that, let alone how to be pregnant, or even have a baby. In all honesty, she just wanted to bawl and cry and ask her mother every question that popped into her mind. Like if it was normal for her to want to curl up in a ball around her belly because it felt safer, and where did she need to go buy clothes when she started to show? Was it normal that despite feeling like shit, she was kind of ecstatic and wanted to have a lot of sex with Keith to celebrate, or was that just her and one of her odd quirks?

Speaking of whom, she really hoped that he didn’t have to go to any more Garrison meetings at ass-o-clock—in the morning again. The only time she managed to sleep was when he was around for cuddles. Like her stupid pregnant uterus could smell him, and that vital function was now keyed to his presence. Or maybe the jellybaby could — she had no idea.

 Either way, she couldn’t even sleep without her husband right now, let alone fly Green. The very last thing she wanted was go back to space. After all their work to ensure that their planet, and every other damned planet, had a future, she and Keith had put off their own.

Now they were home, really, really home, and they finally had the chance to do that, like they secretly talked about and glossed over late into the night on the castleship.

She wanted to stay on Earth, settle in, maybe look at a couple of places she and Keith could make their own. They had talked about expanding and renovating his shack, out in the desert where they could build a telescope room to look at all the stars they’d flown past, planets they’d visited. She’d really liked that idea.

She wanted to take him to Italy when her grandparents flew back, show him the backstreets of Naples where she and Matt had gone to school, and the farm above the city where they had grown up before the big move to the US Garrison. Then come back when she got too fat and big and do boring things. Like nursery painting, building a cot, then majorly freaking out when her due date got near and cleaning everything in sight because germs weren’t good for babies.

All those things she finally had the chance to do, and in every single of those rarely spoken scenarios they conjured up on the castleship, her mother had been in every single one. The very last thing Katie wanted to do was leave her mother right now. She needed her more than anything, but she was sick.

Too sick. She knew what normal morning sickness should be like, and this wasn't it. It wasn't even acute morning sickness, it was something else. Keith had even brought up the option of setting up a drip because he was so worried about the weight she’d lost in the few short weeks since their return.

Keith’s genetics had never scared or phased her, but they would both be stupid to ignore them. They needed Ryner’s help.

“Of course Mamma, anything,” she promised.

Colleen smiled. “Rather than whizzing off by yourselves, would you let me go with you this time? I can’t fly a lion, and realise there are some security risks, but I’d really like to be there with you both for this. If I have to go to space… well, it’s a minor detail, and any trouble should be minimal now that this dictator has been defeated, I assume?” she said, and Katie watched her brother’s jaw drop, probably exactly like her own. “Would that be alright?”

Katie whined and whimpered snotty tears as she threw her arms around her mother’s neck. “Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!” She sobbed.

 

* * *

_Give me a minute? I don't know what I'd say in it…_

* * *

 

When Keith returned, Katie had given up on going back upstairs, and instead collapsed on a corner of the sofa, craving sleep, sustenance, and generally feeling miserable.

She did not cope well with being sick, and right now she was sulking a little; this should really be a happy event. She and her husbands should be in their own little bubble, talking about things they would need to buy, talking about genders, anything cliché and fluffy.

Instead she didn’t even know if she’d be able to keep the baby. What if her body was incompatible with it? Galra bodies were so different to human ones, that she wouldn’t be surprised. Senra had more or less made a pile of goo that turned into an alien mermaid purse after meeting Keith’s dad.

Since speaking to her mother earlier, shed spoken to her about some of these concerns, including the one where she might as well have a miscarriage for all the good being pregnant seemed to be giving them right now.

When they spoke about children before, long into the night on the castleship after exhausting fights, tossed around inside their lions like tiny fragile beans in cans, Keith too had worried about this exact scenario. He’d told her that if his genes made a child of their own too dangerous for her, then he’d rather not have any, or adopt instead.

Talking to her mother had helped. Katie had expected that, but she’d forgotten to factor in how much she had missed her. Shed bawled out everything she’d already worried over with Keith, desperate for someone to tell her what the hell was going on.

Her mother — with two masters in human biology and microbiology — at least had been able to confirm she was indeed pregnant with the very scientific method of taking a test bought from the local mini-mart.

Until someone could tell her for certain what was happening, she continued to stew over the concerns, and let her stomach churn evermore at the thought of going back into space. Hadn’t it taken enough from her family already?

She’d never regret being part of Voltron, meeting Lance and Hunk, Allura, Coran or even Lotor. She’d still be the green paladin, but the empire was receding now that Lotor had taken over his father’s crown.

But like Shiro, and lance and hunk, they all wanted to move forward with their lives; hadn’t they all earned it? Was it too much to ask that she could do that, actually start a life with Keith that didn’t involve battling aliens every day? They’d dreamed about this to help themselves sleep at night, but god forbid it would be so easy to make it a reality.

Much as she loved it, Katie never wanted to go back to space again, and yet if she and Keith were going to have any chance of a family, they would have to do just that. There was probably some irony there, but it wasn’t the kind she could appreciate.

So, when she heard Keith’s familiar footsteps as he rushed for the door (the mobs of people outside had yet to disperse, to all their consternation), she was in a horrible mood. Whining a greeting as the guards held back the people and he closed the door behind him, she earned herself an encouraging smile.

“Hey babe,” he murmured, sliding down beside her. “still feeling awful?”

“I don't think that’s a strong enough adjective; did you manage to talk to Allura or Ryner at all?” She asked. “I told Mamma, and she’s tagging along too.”

Keith didn't seem surprised by that, and only shifted his arms so she could snuggle. “Allura is going to talk to Iverson,” he said. “It would cause mass hysteria if the ship just up and left, but she’s determined to get us there as soon as, so I think they’re going to make something up about a science trip or something. The Olkari want to visit earth too, so she might swing that into it.” He shrugged. “I don't really care as long as someone tells us something. But I think the cover is a good idea, last thing you need is more reporters.”

Katie hummed in acknowledgement, listing to the triple hum of Keith's heartbeats inside his chest, finding some relaxing at last. He had a point; whilst their relationship was openly speculated and know to be romantic in nature, no-one had made comments on it, wanting to keep their private lives to themselves for as long as possible.

As she burrowed against him in hopes of a nape, she felt him glancing around. “Are you wanting to go back upstairs, or are you more comfortable down here?” He asked suddenly.

Katie blinked. “Water’s closer down here, but I want to sleep,” she mumbled eventually. “why?”

Keith said nothing, he just kissed the top of her head and slowly eased out of her hold. He stepped into the kitchen doorway for a moment, then disappeared up the stairs with her Nonno for about fifteen minutes. Then reappeared behind the old man (who was carrying all their blankets) with the mattress from Matt’s bed propped against his back, slowly sliding it down the stairs.

Katie stared as he assembled the bed again in the corner close to the fire, stuffing it full of blankets and their bedcovers.

“You are the best space husband ever,” she muttered with the most sincerity her energy and sleep deprived brain could muster.

“Not really, I’m an ass, but if it’s easier for you down here then it seemed like a reasonable solution,” Keith shrugged, scooping her and her blankets off the sofa so she didn’t even have to move. “Plus I called Kolivan and he more or less told me you would be even worse off if I didn’t. I don’t think it’s quite what he was talking about but if he asks, you have to tell him I built you a weird nest thing.”

Had she been more coherent, she would have found it far more amusing, but it was past midnight, and now that Keith was back, she finally felt settled enough, and the weird little den he’d built for her was cosy.

So instead, she leaned up and gave him a sloppy kiss, which probably tasted horrible thanks to her nasty purple spit, but he made no complaint of it, and tucked some of the blankets around her instead. “Duly noted,” she half smiled. “do you really think we’ll be okay?” She asked after a moment.

On the surface, her words were still only referring to each other, but she couldn’t help but hope for the little jellybaby currently making her body hell on earth.

She’d hardly had chance to think about it, but if this was the start of all those whispered conversations they’d dreamed of, then she really wanted it to be okay.

“We’ll be okay,” Keith murmured back.

His tone, and the hint of fear hiding behind his words, even as he bolstered her spirits, told her he did too, and that was all the reassurance she needed.

 

* * *

_I'd probably just stare, happy just to be there, holding your face._

* * *

 

Having intergalactic babies is probably not as easy as it sounds. This was mostly born from the prompt and my belief that a sick pidge is a grumpy pidge. Also i want more Colleen Holt, cause you bet your ass if Katie needed an intergalactic prenatal she'd be there without blinking. Also its not fair she's the only Holt who hasn't been to space.

Because the first story ran away with me, I'm going to be making a few more drabbles in a separate series for this, so if anyone's interested in anything idk lemme know in a comment? or hit me up on tumblr or twitter. same username :)

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](http://ncj700.tumblr.com)   
>  [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Ncj700)


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